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 Showing:
UK - BBC Soon
Toni Colette, the Australian
film star, plays Kathy, an aid worker who comes into her own in the
aftermath of the tsunami. She inspires all around her – especially the
initially reluctant British official Tony Whittaker (played by Hugh
Bonneville) - to greater heights of commitment.
Toni, one of the most
sought-after actresses in Hollywood, starts by describing Kathy.
"She's a very strong, kind of ballsy, forthright, grounded,
big-mouthed Australian woman who's been living in Thailand for eleven
years. She runs an education programme working with a lot of local
kids."
The actress explains that Kathy
is a naturally dedicated woman. "I think it's just innate within
her. She's chosen to dedicate her life towards helping others and with
this incident, she's, in a strange way, in her element. She's able to
give all that she possibly can. There are more needy people standing in
front of her than ever before, and I think it's just something within
her that makes her feel like she's living the greatest, most useful life
that she can."
Toni, who has starred in such
memorable films as Muriel's Wedding, The Sixth Sense (Oscar nominated),
Emma, Changing Lanes, About a Boy (BAFTA nominated), Velvet Goldmine,
and The Hours, carries on that Kathy is "a loner. When she talks
about feeling more alive than ever before in the wake of the disaster,
it's because she feels she is making a difference.
"She's in the middle of it.
She's not having to think about it, she's just doing it. She's a very
practical person and being able to help people to the extent that she
does, or at least try and break down some barriers and cut through some
red tape, is making her feel like she's serving a purpose.
"When you're surrounded by
such chaos and shock, it can make you feel very alive. There's no room
for reflection. It's like you're in the moment, and that's all you can
be because things are so vital."
One of Kathy's functions is to
make sure that the Thai people are not forgotten when the Western media
swarm into the country. "Because she's been living there for eleven
years, I think part of her feels like she's Thai in a way," muses
Toni, who is orignally from Sydney. "They're the closest people to
her.
"When something like this
happens, you realise how small we are and how little control we have,
and everyone very quickly becomes very equal. And in this particular
circumstance, I guess a lot of the press were European and concerned
with the European people. But the people of Thailand went through it as
well and were being slightly overlooked. So Kathy helps create a voice
for them and makes sure that they are attended to appropriately."
The actress emphasises the
importance of Kathy's relationship with Tony. She helps to galvanise
him. "Tony's a very buttoned-up, proper British man, who's come
here to do a job. He's never been in this situation before - nobody has.
He's trying to do it by the book, and there really is no book any
longer.
"You just have to get
amongst it, get your hands dirty, make quick decisions and go with your
gut - but Tony doesn't really trust himself enough to do that. So Kathy
makes sure that she slaps him around a bit and gets things moving! The
relationship between Tony and Kathy I think provides a bit of comic
relief actually because they're at opposite ends of the spectrum."
Toni, who recently received rave
reviews for her performance in the movie Little Miss Sunshine, opines
that Kathy's religious beliefs play an important part in her make-up,
but they are challenged by what she witnesses after the tsunami.
"Faith is a really interesting thing to contemplate, especially
when something like this happens. When you consider the weight of this
devastation and the amount of people that it affected, you really have
to question what's going on out there." |
